caml-list - the Caml user's mailing list
 help / color / mirror / Atom feed
* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
@ 2017-05-11 17:22 Hongbo Zhang (BLOOMBERG/ 731 LEX)
  2017-05-11 18:10 ` Gabriel Scherer
  2017-05-13 12:51 ` [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list? SP
  0 siblings, 2 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Hongbo Zhang (BLOOMBERG/ 731 LEX) @ 2017-05-11 17:22 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: marshall; +Cc: caml-list

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 2756 bytes --]

Hi Marshall,
    I am currently the admin of ocaml beginners list. I share with your pain points. I had to create a new yahoo account to maintain it(Yahoo used to accept gmail account, but they changed their policy lately), and I kept forgetting the password, since the sole purpose of yahoo account is to maintain the mailing list.
   Would anyone be interested in help the migration(or we can create a gitter/slack/discord chatroom)? As long as people from INIRIA agree, I would be happy to transfer the maintenance to a new leader.
   FYI, currently there is an online chatroom talking about OCaml: https://discord.gg/reasonml
   Thanks -- Hongbo
From: marshall@logical.net At: 05/11/17 12:10:45
To: caml-list@inria.fr
Subject: Re:[Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?

I’m an OCaml beginner, so you would think that I would find the OCaml beginners’ list helpful.  However, every interaction I have with Yahoo groups just pushes me away.  There are obnoxious ads in the web interface, which is not very intuitive anyway.  I could use the beginners list/group via email, but that would require using my Yahoo email address, which I don’t have set up on any of my mail clients.  When I go into the Yahoo web mail interface, I mainly see a list of junk mail that I don’t care about, so I don’t want to use the Yahoo address.  More than once, I have thought, “I should use the OCaml beginners’ list.”  When I start to go down that path, I stop.  Yahoo groups are too distasteful.  I’m not sure how many other people feel this way, but surely I’m not alone.  That means that for some new OCaml users, the public face of OCaml support pushes us away.  So sending new users to the Yahoo group seems unhelpful to the growth of OCaml.

I personally find Google groups easier to use.  They’re not perfect, but the web interface doesn’t include ads.  Might it be a good thing to move the beginners’ list to Google groups or some other system?  Obviously, this change should not be done suddenly.  There would have to be period—possibly indefinite—during which both lists were available.

(At present, when I want help on OCaml questions, I go to StackOverflow, where people have been very helpful.  This is a good solution for me, and it’s easy to browse the latest OCaml questions.  However, the way that the ocaml.org community page is set up encourages beginners to use the Yahoo group.  There is a StackOverflow icon down at the bottom of the page, but you have to investigate that on your own.  In any event, I do like the idea of using an online group or mailing list focused on beginners questions, so I personally would welcome a beginners Google group.  I don’t expect to use the Yahoo group.)


Marshall Abrams


[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 5635 bytes --]

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 17:22 [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list? Hongbo Zhang (BLOOMBERG/ 731 LEX)
@ 2017-05-11 18:10 ` Gabriel Scherer
  2017-05-11 19:19   ` Daniel Bünzli
  2017-05-13 12:51 ` [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list? SP
  1 sibling, 1 reply; 25+ messages in thread
From: Gabriel Scherer @ 2017-05-11 18:10 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Hongbo Zhang; +Cc: marshall, caml users

As an irregular contributor to the ocaml beginners list, I share the
dislike of yahoo lists. I would be happy to keep contributing with an
email-based workflow, and it seems that Google groups would indeed be
an improvement (I don't know about the chatroom solutions that Hongbo
has in mind).

I have a personal preference for open and open-source-based solutions,
but Google groups is no worse than Yahoo groups in this respect (and
better in most others), and the use of a standard communication
protocol (email) gives freedom in letting other participants choose
their stack.
StackOverflow also plays a useful role for beginners and I'm glad that
the OCaml community usefully engages people there. (We have to answer
beginners where they are.)

On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 1:22 PM, Hongbo Zhang (BLOOMBERG/ 731 LEX)
<hzhang295@bloomberg.net> wrote:
> Hi Marshall,
> I am currently the admin of ocaml beginners list. I share with your pain
> points. I had to create a new yahoo account to maintain it(Yahoo used to
> accept gmail account, but they changed their policy lately), and I kept
> forgetting the password, since the sole purpose of yahoo account is to
> maintain the mailing list.
> Would anyone be interested in help the migration(or we can create a
> gitter/slack/discord chatroom)? As long as people from INIRIA agree, I would
> be happy to transfer the maintenance to a new leader.
> FYI, currently there is an online chatroom talking about OCaml:
> https://discord.gg/reasonml
> Thanks -- Hongbo
> From: marshall@logical.net At: 05/11/17 12:10:45
> To: caml-list@inria.fr
> Subject: Re:[Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
>
> I’m an OCaml beginner, so you would think that I would find the OCaml
> beginners’ list helpful.  However, every interaction I have with Yahoo
> groups just pushes me away.  There are obnoxious ads in the web interface,
> which is not very intuitive anyway.  I could use the beginners list/group
> via email, but that would require using my Yahoo email address, which I
> don’t have set up on any of my mail clients.  When I go into the Yahoo web
> mail interface, I mainly see a list of junk mail that I don’t care about, so
> I don’t want to use the Yahoo address.  More than once, I have thought, “I
> should use the OCaml beginners’ list.”  When I start to go down that path, I
> stop.  Yahoo groups are too distasteful.  I’m not sure how many other people
> feel this way, but surely I’m not alone.  That means that for some new OCaml
> users, the public face of OCaml support pushes us away.  So sending new
> users to the Yahoo group seems unhelpful to the growth of OCaml.
>
> I personally find Google groups easier to use.  They’re not perfect, but the
> web interface doesn’t include ads.  Might it be a good thing to move the
> beginners’ list to Google groups or some other system?  Obviously, this
> change should not be done suddenly.  There would have to be period—possibly
> indefinite—during which both lists were available.
>
> (At present, when I want help on OCaml questions, I go to StackOverflow,
> where people have been very helpful.  This is a good solution for me, and
> it’s easy to browse the latest OCaml questions.  However, the way that the
> ocaml.org community page is set up encourages beginners to use the Yahoo
> group.  There is a StackOverflow icon down at the bottom of the page, but
> you have to investigate that on your own.  In any event, I do like the idea
> of using an online group or mailing list focused on beginners questions, so
> I personally would welcome a beginners Google group.  I don’t expect to use
> the Yahoo group.)
>
>
> Marshall Abrams
>
>

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 18:10 ` Gabriel Scherer
@ 2017-05-11 19:19   ` Daniel Bünzli
  2017-05-11 19:38     ` Anil Madhavapeddy
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 25+ messages in thread
From: Daniel Bünzli @ 2017-05-11 19:19 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Gabriel Scherer; +Cc: Hongbo Zhang, marshall, caml users

On Thursday, 11 May 2017 at 20:10, Gabriel Scherer wrote:
> I would be happy to keep contributing with an email-based workflow,

What about http://lists.ocaml.org/ ? 

Best,

Daniel



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 19:19   ` Daniel Bünzli
@ 2017-05-11 19:38     ` Anil Madhavapeddy
  2017-05-11 20:14       ` Christophe Troestler
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 25+ messages in thread
From: Anil Madhavapeddy @ 2017-05-11 19:38 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Daniel Bünzli; +Cc: Gabriel Scherer, Hongbo Zhang, marshall, caml users

On 11 May 2017, at 20:19, Daniel Bünzli <daniel.buenzli@erratique.ch> wrote:
> 
> On Thursday, 11 May 2017 at 20:10, Gabriel Scherer wrote:
>> I would be happy to keep contributing with an email-based workflow,
> 
> What about http://lists.ocaml.org/ ? 

We can create a beginners list there very easily on request (infrastructure@lists.ocaml.org).

One other option that I can arrange to setup is Discourse (discourse.org), which is an open-source forum with a nice e-mail gateway (so it can be used purely in email based mode as well).  Quite a few open source projects use it as a good method of asynchronous communication.

There is a hosted version that I can arrange to be installed on a ocaml.org subdomain, but I will need at least a couple of volunteers to create categories and act as administrators for the site.

An advantage of such a Discourse-based forum is that it should be possible for OCaml library authors to easily create categories on the same forum to direct users of their software to, with minimal reconfiguration required. It would be great to have an area for those (e.g.) interested in JavaScript compilation to go to.

To see an example of Discourse in action, the Rust user forum is one good example: https://users.rust-lang.org.

regards,
Anil

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 19:38     ` Anil Madhavapeddy
@ 2017-05-11 20:14       ` Christophe Troestler
  2017-05-11 20:26         ` Gabriel Scherer
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 25+ messages in thread
From: Christophe Troestler @ 2017-05-11 20:14 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Anil Madhavapeddy
  Cc: Daniel Bünzli, Gabriel Scherer, Hongbo Zhang, marshall, caml users

Hi,

Discourse sounds like a nice solution to me, meeting the various points 
that were expressed.

My 0.02€,
C.

On 2017-05-11, Anil Madhavapeddy wrote:
> 
> On 11 May 2017, at 20:19, Daniel Bünzli <daniel.buenzli@erratique.ch> 
> wrote:
> > 
> > On Thursday, 11 May 2017 at 20:10, Gabriel Scherer wrote:
> >> I would be happy to keep contributing with an email-based workflow,
> > 
> > What about http://lists.ocaml.org/ ? 
> 
> We can create a beginners list there very easily on request 
> (infrastructure@lists.ocaml.org).
> 
> One other option that I can arrange to setup is Discourse 
> (discourse.org), which is an open-source forum with a nice e-mail 
> gateway (so it can be used purely in email based mode as well).  Quite 
> a few open source projects use it as a good method of asynchronous 
> communication.
> 
> There is a hosted version that I can arrange to be installed on a 
> ocaml.org subdomain, but I will need at least a couple of volunteers 
> to create categories and act as administrators for the site.
> 
> An advantage of such a Discourse-based forum is that it should be 
> possible for OCaml library authors to easily create categories on the 
> same forum to direct users of their software to, with minimal 
> reconfiguration required. It would be great to have an area for those 
> (e.g.) interested in JavaScript compilation to go to.
> 
> To see an example of Discourse in action, the Rust user forum is one 
> good example: https://users.rust-lang.org.
> 
> regards,
> Anil
> 
> -- 
> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 20:14       ` Christophe Troestler
@ 2017-05-11 20:26         ` Gabriel Scherer
  2017-05-11 20:44           ` Runhang Li
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 25+ messages in thread
From: Gabriel Scherer @ 2017-05-11 20:26 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Christophe Troestler
  Cc: Anil Madhavapeddy, Daniel Bünzli, Hongbo Zhang, marshall,
	caml users

I'm fine with having a different mailing-list or Discourse or both
(beginner questions tend to be relatively independent, so I don't see
much downside in having two places if we think both can appeal
different people), and would be happy to keep irregularly helping
there. But we need people to volunteer to deploy and maintain these
places.

(Re. Discourse, see the (positive) feedback I got from
users.rust-lang.org on their Discourse instance:
https://users.rust-lang.org/t/what-are-rusts-discourse-hosting-plans-and-time-requirement/6462
)

On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 4:14 PM, Christophe Troestler
<Christophe.Troestler@umons.ac.be> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Discourse sounds like a nice solution to me, meeting the various points that
> were expressed.
>
> My 0.02€,
> C.
>
>
> On 2017-05-11, Anil Madhavapeddy wrote:
>>
>>
>> On 11 May 2017, at 20:19, Daniel Bünzli <daniel.buenzli@erratique.ch>
>> wrote:
>> > > On Thursday, 11 May 2017 at 20:10, Gabriel Scherer wrote:
>> >> I would be happy to keep contributing with an email-based workflow,
>> > > What about http://lists.ocaml.org/ ?
>> We can create a beginners list there very easily on request
>> (infrastructure@lists.ocaml.org).
>>
>> One other option that I can arrange to setup is Discourse (discourse.org),
>> which is an open-source forum with a nice e-mail gateway (so it can be used
>> purely in email based mode as well).  Quite a few open source projects use
>> it as a good method of asynchronous communication.
>>
>> There is a hosted version that I can arrange to be installed on a
>> ocaml.org subdomain, but I will need at least a couple of volunteers to
>> create categories and act as administrators for the site.
>>
>> An advantage of such a Discourse-based forum is that it should be possible
>> for OCaml library authors to easily create categories on the same forum to
>> direct users of their software to, with minimal reconfiguration required. It
>> would be great to have an area for those (e.g.) interested in JavaScript
>> compilation to go to.
>>
>> To see an example of Discourse in action, the Rust user forum is one good
>> example: https://users.rust-lang.org.
>>
>> regards,
>> Anil
>>
>> --
>> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
>> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
>> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
>> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 20:26         ` Gabriel Scherer
@ 2017-05-11 20:44           ` Runhang Li
  2017-05-12  1:08             ` Marshall
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 25+ messages in thread
From: Runhang Li @ 2017-05-11 20:44 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Gabriel Scherer
  Cc: Christophe Troestler, Anil Madhavapeddy, Daniel Bünzli,
	Hongbo Zhang, marshall, caml users

Hi, all

+1 for Discourse.

Personally I have no preference over mailing list/IRC/Slack/Discourse. But in order
to appeal to and grow our community, we'd better set up some modern
infrastructure besides Yahoo mailing list and IRC.

And I would love to help maintain Discourse in my free time.

> On May 11, 2017, at 1:26 PM, Gabriel Scherer <gabriel.scherer@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I'm fine with having a different mailing-list or Discourse or both
> (beginner questions tend to be relatively independent, so I don't see
> much downside in having two places if we think both can appeal
> different people), and would be happy to keep irregularly helping
> there. But we need people to volunteer to deploy and maintain these
> places.
> 
> (Re. Discourse, see the (positive) feedback I got from
> users.rust-lang.org on their Discourse instance:
> https://users.rust-lang.org/t/what-are-rusts-discourse-hosting-plans-and-time-requirement/6462
> )
> 
> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 4:14 PM, Christophe Troestler
> <Christophe.Troestler@umons.ac.be> wrote:
>> Hi,
>> 
>> Discourse sounds like a nice solution to me, meeting the various points that
>> were expressed.
>> 
>> My 0.02€,
>> C.
>> 
>> 
>> On 2017-05-11, Anil Madhavapeddy wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 11 May 2017, at 20:19, Daniel Bünzli <daniel.buenzli@erratique.ch>
>>> wrote:
>>>>> On Thursday, 11 May 2017 at 20:10, Gabriel Scherer wrote:
>>>>> I would be happy to keep contributing with an email-based workflow,
>>>>> What about http://lists.ocaml.org/ ?
>>> We can create a beginners list there very easily on request
>>> (infrastructure@lists.ocaml.org).
>>> 
>>> One other option that I can arrange to setup is Discourse (discourse.org),
>>> which is an open-source forum with a nice e-mail gateway (so it can be used
>>> purely in email based mode as well).  Quite a few open source projects use
>>> it as a good method of asynchronous communication.
>>> 
>>> There is a hosted version that I can arrange to be installed on a
>>> ocaml.org subdomain, but I will need at least a couple of volunteers to
>>> create categories and act as administrators for the site.
>>> 
>>> An advantage of such a Discourse-based forum is that it should be possible
>>> for OCaml library authors to easily create categories on the same forum to
>>> direct users of their software to, with minimal reconfiguration required. It
>>> would be great to have an area for those (e.g.) interested in JavaScript
>>> compilation to go to.
>>> 
>>> To see an example of Discourse in action, the Rust user forum is one good
>>> example: https://users.rust-lang.org.
>>> 
>>> regards,
>>> Anil
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
>>> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
>>> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
>>> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
> 
> -- 
> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 20:44           ` Runhang Li
@ 2017-05-12  1:08             ` Marshall
  2017-05-12  1:45               ` Pierpaolo Bernardi
  2017-05-13 11:48               ` [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available Anil Madhavapeddy
  0 siblings, 2 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Marshall @ 2017-05-12  1:08 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: caml users

I see IRC and Slack (and Gitter, I think) as playing a different role than Yahoo or Google groups and mailing lists (and Discourse, I think).  Both categories of interaction—one good for relatively fast interactions, the other with better support for long time delays—seem valuable, but in different ways.  Each category should be supported, even though Yahoo groups doesn’t seem like the best member of the second category.

There are additional comments in the Google group interface to caml-list that don’t show up in the caml-list archives (nor in my inbox).  I’m not sure why I can’t see these messages elsewhere.  There was a suggestion there to use Pan as an interface to the Yahoo group.  I don’t know anything about Pan, but if there’s a better interface that would be likely to be appealing to new users, then an option would be to promote use of that interface.  It sounds as if Pan uses a Usenet interface.  Many of us feel fondly that Usenet affected our lives in a very positive way, although in a time that seems distant now.  In my ignorance of Usenet's current state, my first thought is to wonder whether it would be ideal for appealing new users, but I don’t know the answer.

Marshall

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-12  1:08             ` Marshall
@ 2017-05-12  1:45               ` Pierpaolo Bernardi
  2017-05-13 11:48               ` [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available Anil Madhavapeddy
  1 sibling, 0 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Pierpaolo Bernardi @ 2017-05-12  1:45 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Marshall; +Cc: caml users

I don't understand what is the problem. Using a Yahoo account may be
necessary for administering the list but certainly not for
participating in it.

Just send an email to list-name-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to subscribe
your regular email address to the list.

No need to have anything to do with yahoo other than this.

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available
  2017-05-12  1:08             ` Marshall
  2017-05-12  1:45               ` Pierpaolo Bernardi
@ 2017-05-13 11:48               ` Anil Madhavapeddy
  2017-05-13 12:53                 ` SP
                                   ` (3 more replies)
  1 sibling, 4 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Anil Madhavapeddy @ 2017-05-13 11:48 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Marshall; +Cc: caml users, infrastructure

Dear all,

Firstly, thank you to Marshall for kicking off this discussion.  It seems clear from the discussion that there is a desire for an asynchronous, modern mailing-list style communications mechanism for the community.  There are several other more synchronous chat-based solutions (IRC, Slack, Gitter), but Discourse stood out as as an open-source forum that is successfully used by other communities such as Rust [1].

Therefore, I have set up a hosted Discourse instance at http://discuss.ocaml.org as an experimental service, and now need your help to decide whether or not this is a viable longer term solution for our community.  It is open to signups, and we have two immediate things to do:

- Decide how to organise the categories in the site [2]
- A timeline for shifting various ocaml.org services over to this [3]

Most immediately, as we decide on categories, we need volunteers to help nurture the site and keep an eye on their areas. Globally, there are currently two administrators (Gabriel Scherer and myself), and we can expand access controls as the site comes into its own.

It is open to public signups immediately, so please do give it a try. Bear in mind that as it is experimental, it is probably a good idea to expect some rearrangements of the configuration in the next few weeks. Anyone interested is extremely welcome to comment on the existing topics below with their opinions, or to begin a new one as appropriate.


[1] Gabriel Scherer did the research the last time this topic came up! https://users.rust-lang.org/t/what-are-rusts-discourse-hosting-plans-and-time-requirement/6462

[2] http://discuss.ocaml.org/t/which-categories-to-create-in-the-site/19

[3] http://discuss.ocaml.org/t/discussion-site-status-and-timeline/23

best regards,
Anil

> On 12 May 2017, at 02:08, Marshall <marshall@logical.net> wrote:
> 
> I see IRC and Slack (and Gitter, I think) as playing a different role than Yahoo or Google groups and mailing lists (and Discourse, I think).  Both categories of interaction—one good for relatively fast interactions, the other with better support for long time delays—seem valuable, but in different ways.  Each category should be supported, even though Yahoo groups doesn’t seem like the best member of the second category.
> 
> There are additional comments in the Google group interface to caml-list that don’t show up in the caml-list archives (nor in my inbox).  I’m not sure why I can’t see these messages elsewhere.  There was a suggestion there to use Pan as an interface to the Yahoo group.  I don’t know anything about Pan, but if there’s a better interface that would be likely to be appealing to new users, then an option would be to promote use of that interface.  It sounds as if Pan uses a Usenet interface.  Many of us feel fondly that Usenet affected our lives in a very positive way, although in a time that seems distant now.  In my ignorance of Usenet's current state, my first thought is to wonder whether it would be ideal for appealing new users, but I don’t know the answer.
> 
> Marshall
> 
> -- 
> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 17:22 [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list? Hongbo Zhang (BLOOMBERG/ 731 LEX)
  2017-05-11 18:10 ` Gabriel Scherer
@ 2017-05-13 12:51 ` SP
  1 sibling, 0 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: SP @ 2017-05-13 12:51 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: caml-list

Please opt for an open-source open-platform for our community. Discourse
or another mailing list sound great.

-- 
    SP

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available
  2017-05-13 11:48               ` [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available Anil Madhavapeddy
@ 2017-05-13 12:53                 ` SP
  2017-05-15 14:37                   ` Anil Madhavapeddy
  2017-05-13 17:08                 ` Marshall
                                   ` (2 subsequent siblings)
  3 siblings, 1 reply; 25+ messages in thread
From: SP @ 2017-05-13 12:53 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: caml-list

Thank you for the effort Anil.

Any chance for HTTPS? I would like to help if you need any.

-- 
    SP

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available
  2017-05-13 11:48               ` [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available Anil Madhavapeddy
  2017-05-13 12:53                 ` SP
@ 2017-05-13 17:08                 ` Marshall
  2017-05-15 13:26                 ` Alan Schmitt
  2017-06-05 15:33                 ` [Caml-list] [ocaml-infra] " Daniel Bünzli
  3 siblings, 0 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Marshall @ 2017-05-13 17:08 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: caml users

Thanks very much to Anil and everyone who’s been working on the new forum.  Looks great.

Marshall

> On May 13, 2017, at 6:48 AM, Anil Madhavapeddy <anil@recoil.org> wrote:
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> Firstly, thank you to Marshall for kicking off this discussion.  It seems clear from the discussion that there is a desire for an asynchronous, modern mailing-list style communications mechanism for the community.  There are several other more synchronous chat-based solutions (IRC, Slack, Gitter), but Discourse stood out as as an open-source forum that is successfully used by other communities such as Rust [1].
> 
> Therefore, I have set up a hosted Discourse instance at http://discuss.ocaml.org as an experimental service, and now need your help to decide whether or not this is a viable longer term solution for our community.  It is open to signups, and we have two immediate things to do:
> 
> - Decide how to organise the categories in the site [2]
> - A timeline for shifting various ocaml.org services over to this [3]
> 
> Most immediately, as we decide on categories, we need volunteers to help nurture the site and keep an eye on their areas. Globally, there are currently two administrators (Gabriel Scherer and myself), and we can expand access controls as the site comes into its own.
> 
> It is open to public signups immediately, so please do give it a try. Bear in mind that as it is experimental, it is probably a good idea to expect some rearrangements of the configuration in the next few weeks. Anyone interested is extremely welcome to comment on the existing topics below with their opinions, or to begin a new one as appropriate.
> 
> 
> [1] Gabriel Scherer did the research the last time this topic came up! https://users.rust-lang.org/t/what-are-rusts-discourse-hosting-plans-and-time-requirement/6462
> 
> [2] http://discuss.ocaml.org/t/which-categories-to-create-in-the-site/19
> 
> [3] http://discuss.ocaml.org/t/discussion-site-status-and-timeline/23
> 
> best regards,
> Anil
> 
>> On 12 May 2017, at 02:08, Marshall <marshall@logical.net> wrote:
>> 
>> I see IRC and Slack (and Gitter, I think) as playing a different role than Yahoo or Google groups and mailing lists (and Discourse, I think).  Both categories of interaction—one good for relatively fast interactions, the other with better support for long time delays—seem valuable, but in different ways.  Each category should be supported, even though Yahoo groups doesn’t seem like the best member of the second category.
>> 
>> There are additional comments in the Google group interface to caml-list that don’t show up in the caml-list archives (nor in my inbox).  I’m not sure why I can’t see these messages elsewhere.  There was a suggestion there to use Pan as an interface to the Yahoo group.  I don’t know anything about Pan, but if there’s a better interface that would be likely to be appealing to new users, then an option would be to promote use of that interface.  It sounds as if Pan uses a Usenet interface.  Many of us feel fondly that Usenet affected our lives in a very positive way, although in a time that seems distant now.  In my ignorance of Usenet's current state, my first thought is to wonder whether it would be ideal for appealing new users, but I don’t know the answer.
>> 
>> Marshall
>> 
>> -- 
>> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
>> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
>> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
>> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
> 
> 
> -- 
> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
> 



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available
  2017-05-13 11:48               ` [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available Anil Madhavapeddy
  2017-05-13 12:53                 ` SP
  2017-05-13 17:08                 ` Marshall
@ 2017-05-15 13:26                 ` Alan Schmitt
  2017-05-15 14:33                   ` Anil Madhavapeddy
  2017-06-05 15:33                 ` [Caml-list] [ocaml-infra] " Daniel Bünzli
  3 siblings, 1 reply; 25+ messages in thread
From: Alan Schmitt @ 2017-05-15 13:26 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Anil Madhavapeddy; +Cc: Marshall, caml users, infrastructure

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 820 bytes --]

Hello,

"AM" == Anil Madhavapeddy <anil@recoil.org> writes:

AM> Therefore, I have set up a hosted Discourse instance at
AM> http://discuss.ocaml.org as an experimental service, and now need
AM> your help to decide whether or not this is a viable longer term
AM> solution for our community.

I don't know if I'll have the time to monitor this to include in the
Caml Weekly News (at the moment I include material from this list, from
the github pull requests (which I receive automatically by mail), and
from the ocaml.org planet aggregation). Do you think I should include
the discussions there in the CWN, and if so can I easily interact with
Discourse using email?

Thanks,

Alan

-- 
OpenPGP Key ID : 040D0A3B4ED2E5C7
Monthly Athmospheric CO₂, Mauna Loa Obs. 2017-04: 409.01, 2016-04: 407.42

[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 454 bytes --]

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available
  2017-05-15 13:26                 ` Alan Schmitt
@ 2017-05-15 14:33                   ` Anil Madhavapeddy
  2017-05-16  6:25                     ` Alan Schmitt
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 25+ messages in thread
From: Anil Madhavapeddy @ 2017-05-15 14:33 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Alan Schmitt; +Cc: Marshall, caml users, infrastructure

On 15 May 2017, at 21:26, Alan Schmitt <alan.schmitt@polytechnique.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> "AM" == Anil Madhavapeddy <anil@recoil.org> writes:
> 
> AM> Therefore, I have set up a hosted Discourse instance at
> AM> http://discuss.ocaml.org as an experimental service, and now need
> AM> your help to decide whether or not this is a viable longer term
> AM> solution for our community.
> 
> I don't know if I'll have the time to monitor this to include in the
> Caml Weekly News (at the moment I include material from this list, from
> the github pull requests (which I receive automatically by mail), and
> from the ocaml.org planet aggregation). Do you think I should include
> the discussions there in the CWN, and if so can I easily interact with
> Discourse using email?

An excellent question -- it seems unfair to burden you with monitoring
yet another forum for the CWN.

Would anyone be willing to summarise some of the more interesting
threads from discuss.ocaml.org and forward a summary to Alan?
It may also be possible to script this up with the http://docs.discourse.org
web API to get a list of titles and URLs, but I expect that it would still need
someone to edit it into a more succinct form for you to include on CWN.

Also, would it also be useful to cross-post CWN to discuss.ocaml.org?
I believe it is possible to generate new posts directly via e-mail, so this
should just involve you CCing a new address. I haven't quite figured out
how this works yet, but will do soon if there's interest...

If you (or anyone else) wants to interact with discuss.ocaml.org via
email only, there is a "mailing list mode" you have to activate, and then
everything shows up in your inbox as multipart email (html and plaintext
markdown, suitable for mutt).
See this: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/email-subscription/137
for the question about it on the forum.

regards,
Anil

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available
  2017-05-13 12:53                 ` SP
@ 2017-05-15 14:37                   ` Anil Madhavapeddy
  2017-05-15 15:13                     ` Gabriel Scherer
  2017-05-17  0:17                     ` SP
  0 siblings, 2 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Anil Madhavapeddy @ 2017-05-15 14:37 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: SP; +Cc: caml-list

On 13 May 2017, at 20:53, SP <sp@orbitalfox.com> wrote:
> 
> Thank you for the effort Anil.
> 
> Any chance for HTTPS? I would like to help if you need any.
> 

HSTS has now been activated, so all access to the site is
now https:// only! Let me know if there any problems with this.

regards,
Anil


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available
  2017-05-15 14:37                   ` Anil Madhavapeddy
@ 2017-05-15 15:13                     ` Gabriel Scherer
  2017-05-17  0:17                     ` SP
  1 sibling, 0 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Gabriel Scherer @ 2017-05-15 15:13 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Anil Madhavapeddy; +Cc: SP, caml users

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 917 bytes --]

I receive a (weekly, I believe) email summary from the Rust Discourse
instance, that I think is using the internal "+1/like" feature of the forum
to automatically select content to highlight -- plus a list of new topics,
etc. Maybe subscribing to this would be enough to populate CWN.

On Mon, May 15, 2017 at 10:37 AM, Anil Madhavapeddy <anil@recoil.org> wrote:

> On 13 May 2017, at 20:53, SP <sp@orbitalfox.com> wrote:
> >
> > Thank you for the effort Anil.
> >
> > Any chance for HTTPS? I would like to help if you need any.
> >
>
> HSTS has now been activated, so all access to the site is
> now https:// only! Let me know if there any problems with this.
>
> regards,
> Anil
>
>
> --
> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
>

[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 1695 bytes --]

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available
  2017-05-15 14:33                   ` Anil Madhavapeddy
@ 2017-05-16  6:25                     ` Alan Schmitt
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Alan Schmitt @ 2017-05-16  6:25 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Anil Madhavapeddy; +Cc: Marshall, caml users, infrastructure

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 554 bytes --]

Hello,

"AM" == Anil Madhavapeddy <anil@recoil.org> writes:

AM> If you (or anyone else) wants to interact with discuss.ocaml.org via
AM> email only, there is a "mailing list mode" you have to activate, and then
AM> everything shows up in your inbox as multipart email (html and plaintext
AM> markdown, suitable for mutt).

I'm giving mailing list mode a try. If it's too much burden, I'll
complain loudly.

Best,

Alan

-- 
OpenPGP Key ID : 040D0A3B4ED2E5C7
Monthly Athmospheric CO₂, Mauna Loa Obs. 2017-04: 409.01, 2016-04: 407.42

[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 454 bytes --]

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available
  2017-05-15 14:37                   ` Anil Madhavapeddy
  2017-05-15 15:13                     ` Gabriel Scherer
@ 2017-05-17  0:17                     ` SP
  1 sibling, 0 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: SP @ 2017-05-17  0:17 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Anil Madhavapeddy; +Cc: caml-list

On Mon, May 15, 2017 at 10:37:24PM +0800, Anil Madhavapeddy wrote:
>HSTS has now been activated, so all access to the site is
>now https:// only! Let me know if there any problems with this.

Seems to work great! Thanks again and let me know if I can contribute in
any way: server, forum, etc.

-- 
	SP

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] [ocaml-infra] discuss.ocaml.org now available
  2017-05-13 11:48               ` [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available Anil Madhavapeddy
                                   ` (2 preceding siblings ...)
  2017-05-15 13:26                 ` Alan Schmitt
@ 2017-06-05 15:33                 ` Daniel Bünzli
  3 siblings, 0 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Daniel Bünzli @ 2017-06-05 15:33 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: caml users; +Cc: infrastructure

On Saturday, 13 May 2017 at 12:48, Anil Madhavapeddy wrote:
> It is open to public signups immediately, so please do give it a try.


For those who didn't jump the shark yet, here are a few steps to get a basic "mailing list mode" for topics that interest you and whose email experience I personally find mostly quite satisfying.

1. Create an account or login with your github/google id on https://discuss.ocaml.org/
2. Goto to your account preferences: click on your icon on the top right of the page and then on the cog icon. Click 
on the 'Preferences' button on this page.
2. Click on 'Emails" on the left menu.
3. In the "Email" section set "Include previous replies at the bottom of emails" to "Never" and untick "Include an excerpt of replied to post in emails" so that each email you get contains a single message.
4. In the "Mailing list mode" section tick "Enable mailing list mode".

To control what gets in your inbox go to https://discuss.ocaml.org/categories and click on a category of interest. On the page of the category the top right button next to the "New Topic" allows to control conditions of notifications (by default you never receive anything except if you are mentioned in the discussion). Exactly the same can be done at the level of tags (https://discuss.ocaml.org/tags) which span across categories. 

To get a bird's eye view of what you are following or bulk control over this go to your account preferences (see above) and click on the "Notification->{Category,Tags}" sub menus.

Filtering the notifications in your inbox can be done in bulk by matching on ocaml@discoursemail.com in the `From:` header, more precise filtering for categories can be done on `List-id:` header. 

HTH, 

Daniel



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 16:09 Marshall
  2017-05-11 19:58 ` Hendrik Boom
  2017-05-11 20:29 ` Oliver Bandel
@ 2017-05-11 20:30 ` Oliver Bandel
  2 siblings, 0 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Oliver Bandel @ 2017-05-11 20:30 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: caml-list

BTW: On freenode (IRC) there is #ocaml

Ciao,
    Oliver



Zitat von Marshall <marshall@logical.net> (Thu, 11 May 2017 11:09:41 -0500)

> I’m an OCaml beginner, so you would think that I would find the  
> OCaml beginners’ list helpful.  However, every interaction I have  
> with Yahoo groups just pushes me away.  There are obnoxious ads in  
> the web interface, which is not very intuitive anyway.  I could use  
> the beginners list/group via email, but that would require using my  
> Yahoo email address, which I don’t have set up on any of my mail  
> clients.  When I go into the Yahoo web mail interface, I mainly see  
> a list of junk mail that I don’t care about, so I don’t want to use  
> the Yahoo address.  More than once, I have thought, “I should use  
> the OCaml beginners’ list.”  When I start to go down that path, I  
> stop.  Yahoo groups are too distasteful.  I’m not sure how many  
> other people feel this way, but surely I’m not alone.  That means  
> that for some new OCaml users, the public face of OCaml support  
> pushes us away.  So sending new users to the Yahoo group seems  
> unhelpful to the growth of OCaml.
>
> I personally find Google groups easier to use.  They’re not perfect,  
> but the web interface doesn’t include ads.  Might it be a good thing  
> to move the beginners’ list to Google groups or some other system?   
> Obviously, this change should not be done suddenly.  There would  
> have to be period—possibly indefinite—during which both lists were  
> available.
>
> (At present, when I want help on OCaml questions, I go to  
> StackOverflow, where people have been very helpful.  This is a good  
> solution for me, and it’s easy to browse the latest OCaml questions.  
>  However, the way that the ocaml.org community page is set up  
> encourages beginners to use the Yahoo group.  There is a  
> StackOverflow icon down at the bottom of the page, but you have to  
> investigate that on your own.  In any event, I do like the idea of  
> using an online group or mailing list focused on beginners  
> questions, so I personally would welcome a beginners Google group.   
> I don’t expect to use the Yahoo group.)
>
>
> Marshall Abrams
>
> --
> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs




^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 16:09 Marshall
  2017-05-11 19:58 ` Hendrik Boom
@ 2017-05-11 20:29 ` Oliver Bandel
  2017-05-11 20:30 ` Oliver Bandel
  2 siblings, 0 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Oliver Bandel @ 2017-05-11 20:29 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: caml-list

Webinterface necessary?
I prefer to use mail for a *mail*inglist ;-)

Wouldn't be a university a good place to host such a mailing list?
Or what about inria?
(But the archive is ugly for caml-list - mailman-based mailinglists  
are much better at this point.)

I also could set up a mailinglist on in-berlin.de. (Mailman-based.)
But I think a university would be a much better place for such a mailing-list.


Ciao,
    Oliver




Zitat von Marshall <marshall@logical.net> (Thu, 11 May 2017 11:09:41 -0500)

> I’m an OCaml beginner, so you would think that I would find the  
> OCaml beginners’ list helpful.  However, every interaction I have  
> with Yahoo groups just pushes me away.  There are obnoxious ads in  
> the web interface, which is not very intuitive anyway.  I could use  
> the beginners list/group via email, but that would require using my  
> Yahoo email address, which I don’t have set up on any of my mail  
> clients.  When I go into the Yahoo web mail interface, I mainly see  
> a list of junk mail that I don’t care about, so I don’t want to use  
> the Yahoo address.  More than once, I have thought, “I should use  
> the OCaml beginners’ list.”  When I start to go down that path, I  
> stop.  Yahoo groups are too distasteful.  I’m not sure how many  
> other people feel this way, but surely I’m not alone.  That means  
> that for some new OCaml users, the public face of OCaml support  
> pushes us away.  So sending new users to the Yahoo group seems  
> unhelpful to the growth of OCaml.
>
> I personally find Google groups easier to use.  They’re not perfect,  
> but the web interface doesn’t include ads.  Might it be a good thing  
> to move the beginners’ list to Google groups or some other system?   
> Obviously, this change should not be done suddenly.  There would  
> have to be period—possibly indefinite—during which both lists were  
> available.
>
> (At present, when I want help on OCaml questions, I go to  
> StackOverflow, where people have been very helpful.  This is a good  
> solution for me, and it’s easy to browse the latest OCaml questions.  
>  However, the way that the ocaml.org community page is set up  
> encourages beginners to use the Yahoo group.  There is a  
> StackOverflow icon down at the bottom of the page, but you have to  
> investigate that on your own.  In any event, I do like the idea of  
> using an online group or mailing list focused on beginners  
> questions, so I personally would welcome a beginners Google group.   
> I don’t expect to use the Yahoo group.)
>
>
> Marshall Abrams
>
> --
> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs




^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 19:58 ` Hendrik Boom
@ 2017-05-11 20:01   ` Hendrik Boom
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Hendrik Boom @ 2017-05-11 20:01 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: caml-list

On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 03:58:13PM -0400, Hendrik Boom wrote:
> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:09:41AM -0500, Marshall wrote:
> > I’m an OCaml beginner, so you would think that I would find the OCaml 
> > beginners’ list helpful.  However, every interaction I have with Yahoo 
> > groups just pushes me away.  There are obnoxious ads in the web 
> > interface, which is not very intuitive anyway.  I could use the 
> > beginners list/group via email, but that would require using my Yahoo 
> > email address, which I don’t have set up on any of my mail clients.  
> > When I go into the Yahoo web mail interface, I mainly see a list of 
> > junk mail that I don’t care about, so I don’t want to use the Yahoo 
> > address.  More than once, I have thought, “I should use the OCaml 
> > beginners’ list.”  When I start to go down that path, I stop.  Yahoo 
> > groups are too distasteful.  I’m not sure how many other people feel 
> > this way, but surely I’m not alone.  That means that for some new 
> > OCaml users, the public face of OCaml support pushes us away.  So 
> > sending new users to the Yahoo group seems unhelpful to the growth of 
> > OCaml.
> 
> The best way I've found to read the OCaml beginners mailing list is 
> to use the Pan usenet browser, aiming it at the usenet group 
> gmane.comp.lang.ocaml.beginners at news.gmane.org.
> 
> It beatss any web email interface I've used.  And if you don't like Pan, 
> there are other news readers.

Reading it as incoming email works fine, too.

-- hendrik

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* Re: [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
  2017-05-11 16:09 Marshall
@ 2017-05-11 19:58 ` Hendrik Boom
  2017-05-11 20:01   ` Hendrik Boom
  2017-05-11 20:29 ` Oliver Bandel
  2017-05-11 20:30 ` Oliver Bandel
  2 siblings, 1 reply; 25+ messages in thread
From: Hendrik Boom @ 2017-05-11 19:58 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: caml-list

On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 11:09:41AM -0500, Marshall wrote:
> I’m an OCaml beginner, so you would think that I would find the OCaml 
> beginners’ list helpful.  However, every interaction I have with Yahoo 
> groups just pushes me away.  There are obnoxious ads in the web 
> interface, which is not very intuitive anyway.  I could use the 
> beginners list/group via email, but that would require using my Yahoo 
> email address, which I don’t have set up on any of my mail clients.  
> When I go into the Yahoo web mail interface, I mainly see a list of 
> junk mail that I don’t care about, so I don’t want to use the Yahoo 
> address.  More than once, I have thought, “I should use the OCaml 
> beginners’ list.”  When I start to go down that path, I stop.  Yahoo 
> groups are too distasteful.  I’m not sure how many other people feel 
> this way, but surely I’m not alone.  That means that for some new 
> OCaml users, the public face of OCaml support pushes us away.  So 
> sending new users to the Yahoo group seems unhelpful to the growth of 
> OCaml.

The best way I've found to read the OCaml beginners mailing list is 
to use the Pan usenet browser, aiming it at the usenet group 
gmane.comp.lang.ocaml.beginners at news.gmane.org.

It beatss any web email interface I've used.  And if you don't like Pan, 
there are other news readers.

Please keep this usenet gateway alive.

-- hendrik


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

* [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list?
@ 2017-05-11 16:09 Marshall
  2017-05-11 19:58 ` Hendrik Boom
                   ` (2 more replies)
  0 siblings, 3 replies; 25+ messages in thread
From: Marshall @ 2017-05-11 16:09 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: OCaml Mailing List

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1981 bytes --]

I’m an OCaml beginner, so you would think that I would find the OCaml beginners’ list helpful.  However, every interaction I have with Yahoo groups just pushes me away.  There are obnoxious ads in the web interface, which is not very intuitive anyway.  I could use the beginners list/group via email, but that would require using my Yahoo email address, which I don’t have set up on any of my mail clients.  When I go into the Yahoo web mail interface, I mainly see a list of junk mail that I don’t care about, so I don’t want to use the Yahoo address.  More than once, I have thought, “I should use the OCaml beginners’ list.”  When I start to go down that path, I stop.  Yahoo groups are too distasteful.  I’m not sure how many other people feel this way, but surely I’m not alone.  That means that for some new OCaml users, the public face of OCaml support pushes us away.  So sending new users to the Yahoo group seems unhelpful to the growth of OCaml.

I personally find Google groups easier to use.  They’re not perfect, but the web interface doesn’t include ads.  Might it be a good thing to move the beginners’ list to Google groups or some other system?  Obviously, this change should not be done suddenly.  There would have to be period—possibly indefinite—during which both lists were available.

(At present, when I want help on OCaml questions, I go to StackOverflow, where people have been very helpful.  This is a good solution for me, and it’s easy to browse the latest OCaml questions.  However, the way that the ocaml.org community page is set up encourages beginners to use the Yahoo group.  There is a StackOverflow icon down at the bottom of the page, but you have to investigate that on your own.  In any event, I do like the idea of using an online group or mailing list focused on beginners questions, so I personally would welcome a beginners Google group.  I don’t expect to use the Yahoo group.)


Marshall Abrams

[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 3487 bytes --]

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 25+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2017-06-05 15:33 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 25+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2017-05-11 17:22 [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list? Hongbo Zhang (BLOOMBERG/ 731 LEX)
2017-05-11 18:10 ` Gabriel Scherer
2017-05-11 19:19   ` Daniel Bünzli
2017-05-11 19:38     ` Anil Madhavapeddy
2017-05-11 20:14       ` Christophe Troestler
2017-05-11 20:26         ` Gabriel Scherer
2017-05-11 20:44           ` Runhang Li
2017-05-12  1:08             ` Marshall
2017-05-12  1:45               ` Pierpaolo Bernardi
2017-05-13 11:48               ` [Caml-list] discuss.ocaml.org now available Anil Madhavapeddy
2017-05-13 12:53                 ` SP
2017-05-15 14:37                   ` Anil Madhavapeddy
2017-05-15 15:13                     ` Gabriel Scherer
2017-05-17  0:17                     ` SP
2017-05-13 17:08                 ` Marshall
2017-05-15 13:26                 ` Alan Schmitt
2017-05-15 14:33                   ` Anil Madhavapeddy
2017-05-16  6:25                     ` Alan Schmitt
2017-06-05 15:33                 ` [Caml-list] [ocaml-infra] " Daniel Bünzli
2017-05-13 12:51 ` [Caml-list] Change policy on beginners list? SP
  -- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2017-05-11 16:09 Marshall
2017-05-11 19:58 ` Hendrik Boom
2017-05-11 20:01   ` Hendrik Boom
2017-05-11 20:29 ` Oliver Bandel
2017-05-11 20:30 ` Oliver Bandel

This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox;
as well as URLs for NNTP newsgroup(s).